The New York Society Library Book Awards (NYC Book Awards) established in 1996, honor books of literary quality or historical importance that, in the opinion of the selection committee, evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City. It is not necessary that the city be the major subject of the book, but it must play an essential, invigorating role beyond that of the setting.
They are administered by The New York Society Library, the oldest in the city, was founded in 1754 by the New York Society, a civic-minded group formed in the belief that the availability of books would help the city to prosper. A subscription library, it now contains nearly three hundred thousand volumes -- the result of the tastes of its members over almost the last quarter millennium.
2009
Boulevard of Dreams by Constance Rosenblum (Social History)
Hudson-Fulton Celebration by Kathleen Johnson (History)
Mapping New York by Black Dog Publishing (Visual History)
Mitzvah Girls by Ayala Fader (Cultural Anthropology)
Row House Reborn by Andrew Dolkart (Architecture)
2008
Skyscraper and the City by Gail Fenske
2007
New York Rises by Michael Lorenzini & Kevin Moore (Photography)
Trying Leviathan by D. Graham Burnett (History)
2006
Biography of a Tenement House by Andrew Dolkart (Social History)
Ely Jacques Kahn,Architect by Jewel Stern & John A. Stuart (Architecture)
Picturing the City by Rebecca Zurier (Art)
2005
New York Burning by Jill Lepore (Book of the Year)
Mythic Cityby Donald Albrecht (Photography)
Redemption by Steven Kellman (Biography)
2004
Blue Blood by Edward Conlon
From Abyssinian to Zion by David W. Dunlap
Images of America series by Arcadia Publishers
Island at the Center of the Worldby Russell Shorto
Mimmy and Sophie: All Around the Town by Miriam Cohen
Subway Style by the New York Transit Museum
Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan by Phillip Lopate
2003
Triangle by David Von Drehle (Book of the Year)
Newsboys' Lodging Houseby Jon Boorstin (Historical Fiction)
Streetscapes by Christopher Gray (Special Citation of Merit)
Waterworks by Stanley Greenberg (Photography)
2002
Coney Island: Lost and Found by Charles Denson (Book of the Year)
American Groundby William Langewiesche (Journalism)
Fireboatby Maira Kalman (Children's Book)
Harlem: Lost and Found by Michael Henry Adams (Architectural History)
Modern Arcadiaby Susan L. Klaus (Landscape History)
ProQuest-New York Times by the ProQuest Company (Special Citation of Merit)
2001
Five Points by Tyler Anbinder (History)
Lookin' For Bird in the Big City by Robert Burleigh (Children's Book)
Unearthing Gotham by Diana Dizerega Wall & Anne-Marie E. Cantwell (History)
2000
AIA Guide to New York City by Norval White (Special Citation of Merit)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clayby Michael Chabon (Fiction)
Bronx Accentby Lloyd Ultan & Barbara Unger (Borough History)
Heartbeats in the Muckby John R. Waldman (Natural History)
Old Queens, N.Y.by Vincent Seyfried (Lifetime Achievement)
Working-Class New York by Joshua B. Freeman (History)
(1999)
New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age by Robert A. M. Stern (Book of the Year)
Morgan: American Financier by Jean Strouse (Biography)
Personal Name Index to the New York Times by Byron Falk. Jr. & Valerie Falk (Reference)
Sector 7 by David Wiesner (Children's Book)
'Tis by Frank McCourt (Memoir)
1998
Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 by Edwin G. Burrows & Mike Wallace (Book of the Year)
Displaying Women: Spectacles of Leisure in Edith Wharton's New York by Maureen E. Montgomery (Unusual Topic)
New York: An Illustrated History of the People by Allon Schoener (Photographic Work)
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology by Philip Lopate (Ficiton)
1997
Manhattan in Maps, 1527-1995 by Paul E. Cohen and Robert T. Augustyn
Terra-Cotta Skyline by Susan Tunick and Peter Mauss
1996
Brooklyn!: An Illustrated History by Ellen M. Snyder-Grenier
1995
Encyclopedia of New York City by Kenneth T. Jackson
